University Grads Startups You Must Know about in Philadelphia

Philadelphia is a city that derives its name from the Greek word Philos which means loving. One of the famous figures who hailed from the city of Philadelphia is Benjamin Franklin. The tech scene in Philadelphia was largely dormant, but in the recent past, there has been a revival in innovations around technology and this has prompted a number of people including local writers to refer to Philadelphia as the Philacon Valley.

The city has been vibrant in hosting events that bring together technology and culture to support new startups, breed innovative ideas, and promote investments. The fruits of some of these events are evident in the number of startups that have come up in Philadelphia. Some of the top must-know startups in the city are:

Venmo

This is a payment network premised on both the internet and SMS platform and it operates based on mutual trust. Once a two way trust is established with another member of the network, you can pay or charge as it is appropriate. The transactions are processed over a secured connection online. This startup was founded by former University of Pennsylvania roommates in April, 2009 to help settle IOUs. It works on both iPhone and Android platforms.

Warby Parker

This is a company that makes eyewear products such as Zagg, Finn, and Nedwin. All these eye wears are made with customized acetate frames with lenses that are anti-reflective. It was started by David Gilboa, Jeffrey Raider, and Andy Hunt, graduates from Wharton. Their selling point is the design and price which is by far lower than what high end retail glasses sell for.

RJMetrics

The company was founded in 2008 by Robert J. Moore, a graduate from Princeton. He is also the CEO of the company. The core business of RJMetrics is to provide business intelligence software to assist businesses particularly those which are online based to measure and monetize better.

Duck Duck Go

This is an online based startup that leverages online cloud sourcing to supplement the traditional search engine results. The aim of the business is to clean up the clutter and hopefully improve relevance. It was started in September, 2008 and is solely funded by Gabriel Weinberg, an MIT graduate, who is also the founder. Currently, the company receives about 2.4 million searches every month.

TicketLeap

This is a social platform that connects friends and events so as to make ticket selling as seamless as possible. Christopher Stanchak, the CEO and founder, came up with the idea as an undergraduate student taking part in the Wharton Venture Initiation Program. Wilmington Piano Movers At one point, he hired his mum to help with sales and support while he was in charge of the overall management on a part time basis. TicketLeap is the first company in the entire world to eliminate service fees on small events and enhance the growth of small event management companies.

In addition to the above startups, there are many more such as ReadySetWork and Kembrel all of which were started by university graduates.